How to make your own cashew cream at home, completely vegan and soy free!
So why make your own cashew cream?
Cashew cream is a wonderful and versatile plant-based alternative to heavy cream that can be used as a topping for fresh berries, sliced peaches, or even my Crustless Pumpkin Pie.
It also makes a fabulous coconut-free base for ice cream or chocolate mousse, or you can use it to thicken soups, smoothies, or for making the creamiest alfredo sauce of your life.
Of course, you can also thin it out to use as cashew milk… or even drink the thick cream.
I know I can’t be the only child who used to love drinking straight-up heavy cream from the carton.
NO dairy / NO soy / NO gluten / NO coconut / NO eggs
The cream takes on the flavor of whatever ingredients you use to season it.
Try garlic, salt, onion, and a little turmeric for a savory cashew cream sauce.
Or add some stevia, maple syrup, sugar of choice, or even an overripe banana for a sweeter sauce or dessert topping or mousse.
My sister has a really good ice cream recipe that uses dairy heavy cream, and I’ve been meaning to try replacing the cream in her recipe with this homemade cashew cream recipe.
Or you can use it to make the best Vegan Mac And Cheese!
The first time I ever tried making cashew cream was actually in a savory recipe, after I’d had the best alfredo sauce of my life at a vegan restaurant in New York City.
Since then, I’ve used the cream mostly for pie recipes, but I also really like it on top of freshly-sliced peaches in the summertime.
So so good! I’m sure many people have their own tweaked method and recipe for homemade cashew cream. What follows is my method for how to make cashew cream.
If you can’t find raw cashews, raw macadamia nuts are equally delicious here.
How To Make Cashew Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews or macadamia nuts (120g)
- 1/3 cup to 3/4 cup water depending on how thick you want your cream (For homemade cashew milk, use 3 cups water)
Instructions
- In a bowl, cover the cashews with water and let sit at least 3 hours (no longer than 8). Drain completely, then combine the drained cashews with the water and blend until very smooth (a full minute in a Vita-Mix, or much longer in a food processor, making sure to scrape down the sides occasionally). For a sweet cream, add pure vanilla extract, salt, and sweetener (if using 3/4c water, add 1/8 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Also add 1-2 tbsp sugar or maple syrup, or a pinch of stevia, or a few dates.) For a savory vegan cream, add a little salt and perhaps some lemon juice, miso, fresh or dried herbs, etc. This recipe lasts 3-4 days in the fridge, or it can be frozen. Makes up to 1 1/2 cups cashew cream.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
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Heck yes! I love cashew cream sweetened a bit and poured over pancakes. Yes POURED. I devour it. SO GOOD! Probably one of the coolest things to make.. and most delicious… and easiest… I gotta go make some right now! haha 🙂
I’ve never tried anything like this, but I think I will. I do have one question, though. In the recipe it says: ” Drain, then combine the drained cashews with the water and blend until very smooth.” So you drain it, but reserve the water, then combine the nuts with the water again and blend? Maybe I’m being dense, but why drain the cashews if you are just going to put them back together again?
I think you use fresh water when blending, the initial water is however much you need to cover them to soak, then you discard that (good for plants I believe) and then when in the blender add 1/3 – 3/4C depending on how thick you want the cream.
I drained the water into a measuring cup and reused it. I added small amounts back in based on how thick i wanted the cream. My first time making it and I used an immersion blender. Different but still yummy. I am far from vegan but love to try all sorts of healthy recipes. 🙂 Thanks Katie!
When you soak nuts, they release enzyme inhibitors into the water. Because the enzyme inhibitors inhibit digestion and absorption of nutrients, you wouldn’t want to reuse the water. Some people choose to soak and then dehydrate all nuts and seeds. You can buy nuts, nut butters, and etc that have been de-enzyme inhibitorized for you.
“Raw” cashews aren’t really raw. They have to be heated/boiled to get them edible; raw cashews are not roasted with salt and added oils.
I’ve made ice cream with just cashews, dates, cocoa and water before and it turned out (surprisingly) amazing. Give it a go!
Wow! I never knew cashews could do this! Do you think it would work in a normal blender??? I bet you could make ice cream with this too!!
I really don’t know :-?.
I made it in my food processor and had to blend forever, literally a total of like 40 minutes on and off. It was super yummy, but I think I still never got as creamy a texture as I could have with a Vitamix. Maybe soaking longer could have helped. I soaked for about 4 hours only. Oh Vitamix…one day I will have you in my life…
Have made ice cream with it! Works great!
A word to the wise – never attempt to freeze this stuff! I had some leftover and stuck it in the freezer, then pulled it out and used it in a soup, which totally tasted like it had sand in it.
We always make a version of this for desserts at special occasions. If you chill the cream overnight you can whip it up almost like whipped cream. It’s the perfect alternative for my lactose intolerant brother.
your blog is about food — your personal thoughts are just that, personal — no need to apologize
Love the idea- what a coincidence, I was recently attempting to make a healthier thickened cream also 🙂
Can this be used in coffee? I’ve been making my own creamer with lite coconut milk but it doesn’t taste as good as I’d like… Any suggestions? I’m trying to limit dairy in my diet but don’t want to go crazy calorie/fat wise (I use a good amount of cream
I think it would be wonderful in coffee!
Wow, I love coconut cream, but have yet to try cashew cream!
My family used to have a recipe called “strawberries in heaven”. Basically, you would cut up a truckload of strawberries and then drown them in cream and sugar. Pretty much the most amazing thing ever, but the body doesn’t approve. Me thinks that if you made a healthy version of this, you would get pretty amazing results. Can you imagine?? Fresh strawberries, sweet cashew cream, and topped with shaved dark chocolate? 😀
Sounds perfect Natalyn !…Fantastic idea to get the fresh strawberry & cream fixation that always grabs me at this time of year….and with the dark chocolate shavings…beautiful textures and color “popping” going on…No one would feel deprived with this quickly produced…yet healthy dessert idea!
This sounds so good, I’m sure it would be a good topping for fruit! This past summer I made a cashew tomato soup that had raw cashews food processed with the tomato soup and it was soo good.
Loving your idea for enhancing/thickening up tomato soup with a cashew cream swirl over starch-riddled potato or grain-based ingredients. Totally “stealing” this delicious, nutritious idea.
Katie — You might be interested in a cookbook called “Vice Cream” — that is vegan ice cream. It uses this type of cashew cream as the base for a lot of the recipes. I love the Black Forest ice cream recipe in particular — chocolate and cherries — yum!
(I am not connected to the book’s authors in any way. I just own a copy of the book and think it’s cool.)
Oh — also, I make cashew cream all the time. You don’t actually have to soak the cashews first. Just add a little extra water if you use un-soaked cashews.
I figure that blending un-soaked cashews is like cutting them into really tiny pieces that will absorb liquid much faster than whole cashews would. So I usually blend the cashew cream first, then let it sit while I prep other foods, and then re-blend the cashew cream one last time before serving. Works great!
Mmmm, I’m thinking vegan white russians with cashew cream?
Thanks for sharing your recipe, along with ALL of your recipes – they’re fantastic!
Speaking (or writing, rather) from Australia, I’d like to say that you would have every right to mention how you’re feeling or what you’re thinking about the events that happened just recently. Senseless acts by senseless people need to be discussed, maybe not here, but somewhere. Lee xx
I meant to add “or not mention”, every right to mention or not mention…
I am addicted to you! Everything I have tried is amazing! I have loved sharing your blog and recipes with all my friends. I have recently cut all meat and dairy out of my diet, lost weight and feel great. My goal is to make one of your recipes a week but I already made your goldfish crackers, black bean brownies and today I am making your chocolate chip pie to take to a party and the new cashew cream. Thank you so much.
Also addicted to Katie but don’t know how to get onto her blog. I’m 72 and not too computer savvy so would appreciate your help. Thanks in anticipation of a reply from you.
Hi Lillian,
You ARE on the blog. You left a comment, and I can see it, which means you did figure it out correctly :).
Hi Katie, I’m allergic to raw nuts, but I’m OK when they’re roasted… do you think I could use soaked roasted cashews?
Thanks.